Author: Dr. Michael Sharp
ISBN: 0-9738555-2-5

The following review was contributed by: Mary Simmons: Click Here To Read Mary's Reviews

Using poetic, flowing language, Michael Sharp spins a tale of creation that
is both familiar and new in the first volume of his fourth book, 'The Book
of Light.'

Having been raised as a Christian and not having explored the metaphysical
concepts set forth in either this book or any of Sharp's previous
publications, I approached this book with some mixed feelings. However, I
did not find Sharp's picture of creation entirely foreign or completely
contradictory to my own beliefs and I could certainly appreciate his command
of the language and his style of writing. I found myself entranced with the
imagery he created within the pages of 'The Book of Light,' re-reading
passages and forging ahead to discover each new step. The mantras repeated
throughout the book are words to live by, no matter what your faith
background may be.

Sharp introduces the book by saying it is an attempt to answer the really
big questions all human beings have asked at some point in their lives: What
is the nature of God? What is the nature of creation? What is my purpose?
and more, adding that his hope is that readers will finish the book with a
new perspective on spiritual theories.

The book begins at the stage of creation when there was only awareness and
consciousness in the form of "a single speck of light, a single perspective
of self and a single monadic spark."
But this existence could only last for a period of time before the entity
became bored with this state of being and began to wonder what could conquer
the boredom.

Sharp says when you have an eternity to ponder, boredom is inevitable and
from this boredom comes the opportunity to create new and wonderful things.
Every step in the unfolding of creation as laid out in 'The Book of Light'
is brought on by trying to solve the problem of boredom.
And so a new toy was created, a "Plastercine of Paradise," but eventually
boredom set in again and a new inspiration was sought. The only solution was
to add another "eye" to creation.

With each new "eye" or "monad" that comes into being and brings with it the
creation of new and exciting dimensions, there is no inequality or
hierarchy. With each level, narrower viewpoints emerge, but this is not a
negative circumstance.

Sharp says we are all equal in creation and we are all capable of getting
everything we want as long as everyone is having fun. This insistence on
everyone being motivated by fun reminded me of the greatest happiness
principle endorsed by the founder of Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham, who
said we should decide if our actions are moral by asking ourselves if they
will result in bringing the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest
number of people.

In fact, this was not the only aspect of 'The Book of Light' which seemed
familiar to me. Although Sharp wants his readers to gain new insights into
important spiritual questions, he admits "new" is a bit of a misnomer since
many of the ideas are "old;" they are simply put together in a new and
interesting manner.

For anyone who has asked themselves these questions, 'The Book of Light' is
a fascinating read that will not only benefit your life, but also the lives
of children with leprosy since 100 per cent of the author royalties of the
North American paperback edition of this book will be donated to charity.